Combined weather strip and retainer



E. D. SCOTT COMBINED WEATHERSTRIP AND RETAINER Oct. 7, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Sept. 19, 1947 E. D. SCOTT INVENTOR. dc? flmw.

ATTORNEYS Oct. 7, 1952 sco 7 2,612,665

COMBINED WEATHERSTRIP AND RETAINER Filed Sept. 19, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 E. D. SCOTT q INVENTOR. j ac. n- ZQLA BY Th. 6

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 7, 1952 Edwin D. Scott, Plymouth, Mich; assignor to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich., a corpora 1 tion of Delaware Application September 19, 1947, Serial No. 775,127

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to a combined Weatherstrip and retainer, and has particular reference to aresilient and flexible Weatherstrip construction adapted to provide a weathertight seal fora closure.

i .In the automotive field, rubber weatherstrips have been used to effect weathertight seals between the doors of the vehicle and the body, and also between the rear deck and the body. Conventionally, the Weatherstrip is ofsuch shapeas to bepartially compressed When the door of rear deck is closed, and is secured to the edge of the door or rear deck by means of cement Or other adhesive material. Considerable difliculty has been encountered in mounting the Weatherstrip in a manner which will be permanent and will not loosen or become disengaged after a period of use. In addition, the' trend of modern styling results in body and door contours requiring a Weatherstrip which may be flexed both longitudinally and transversely of the car body, and in. "some instances torsionally twisted. Under such extreme conditions, it is even more difiicult to provide a Weatherstrip which will properly and permanently adhere to the adjacent structure.

Although auxiliary fastening elements have sometimes been used to prevent'crtain portions of the Weatherstripping from becoming disengaged, these are not entirely satisfactory since they are only locally effective in holding the Weatherstrip, and since they are rather time-consuming and expensive to apply.

Accordingly, the present invention has for one of its principal objects the elimination of the above-mentioned difliculties by the provision of a combined Weatherstrip and retainer which may be quickly and permanently secured to an adjacent surface regardless of the contour'of -the latter. In an embodiment of the invention this is'accomplished by providing a continuous corrugated wire element of sinuous shape supporting a resilient sealing strip, the sinuous wire element carrying a plurality of longitudinally spaced fastenin elements to secure the Weatherstrip assembly to the'door or other support. The wire element not only provides a mounting for the fastening elements, but also forms an adequate support for the rubber sealing strip so that the latter is maintained inclose engagement with the door at all points, between the fasteningv elements as well as adjacent thereto. In addition, the wire element is flexible not only in a plane normal to the plane of the element but also is extremely flexibl'e in a transverse direction in the plane of the wire; 'Itcan'also be twisted and thus can be bent toanydesired'shape to follow the contourof the door or the body. Furthermore; it is longitudinal-a lyextensible sothat it may be stretched or compressed if necessary to secure proper registration between *the fastening elements and the co-op'erati'ng-holesin the door or body panel. With-this construction the "Weatherstrip -'and retainer may be'twisted through an angle of 90 degrees'or more if necessary to rotate the working surface of the Weatherstrip to'provide the proper sealing engagement at'various portions of the door.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a Weatherstrip comprising a resilient sealing strip so formed as to receive and enclose a continuous fiexible metal element supporting a plurality of spaced fastening elements. In an embodiment of the invention, the rubbersealing strip is formed with a T-shaped groove which may be spread apart to receive the corrugated metal element with the fastening elements protruding therefrom. i

Still another objectof the invention is to pro-' vide a Weatherstrip in which a. continuous corrugated wire element supporting a plurality of spaced fastening elements is embedded or moulded within a rubber sealing strip with the fastening elements projecting therefrom, the resulting I unit being distortionable' in all directionsas as longitudinally extensible. I

Other objects and advantages'of the invention will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, particularly when considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l is an inside elevation of the rear door well of a four-door automobile body upon whichis mounted a Weatherstrip incorporating the present invention. Figure 2 is an end elevation of the rearward edge of the door shown in Figure 1. a

Figure 3 is a perspective. view of a portion of a Weatherstrip constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure, 4; 'is an exploded view of the weather-[ strip shown in Figure3 prior to'the assemblyfof thepwire element within the rubber sealing strip.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the trim clips.

Figure 6 cent co-operating portion of the automobile body. Figure 7 isya fragmentary cross sectional view, on an enlarged scale; of, the structure shown in Figure6.

' Figure 8 is a, perspective view, partially broken is a horizontal 'crossl sectional view 2 taken substantially on the plane indicated by the. line 6-43 of Figure 1, and also showing the adjaaway. similar to Figure B'but showing a. modification 01' the invention.

motive use since it results in a permanent installation regardless of weather conditions and since it may be bent, flexed, twisted,'"'arid/orstretched to the configuration required by the particular styling of the automobile body. 4

The door I l is conventionally constructed of an inner sheet metal panel lz-and an-outer sheet metal panel 13. The inner panel I2 is bent outwardly to form a jamb face l4 extending o'ut-- wardly to the outer panel [3, and is then formed with: a -marginal; flange l E-lyin iadjacent the onterpanel 13 (and suitably secured? thereto; as by-spot-welding; The: marginal edge of theouter panel: l3 ie-bent overthemarginalflange- El 6- ofithe inner-panel; as at: l 1;. and-the resulting assembly formsialip on-fiangeoverlying the adjacent and inwardly :ofiset portiom l8 "of-. --theadjacent body panel'l9i v a In. conventional "construction a resilient: rubber strip;- is cemented. to this over-lying lip or flange of-.-the door and-extends completely around the; periphery 1 ot :the: latter. It--will be seen from an: examination? of Figuresl and. 2- that a "typical automobile:door'iollowing'modernstyling trends is ofi -a complexly contoured three-dimensional shape; and-that;sawsealingr'strip carried-=thereby mustebeabent in such manner as to; conform-to thegconfigurationor -the door. Thisds possible WilFh-rthe -Weatherstrip d of the present invention, yet-the-weatherstripe is permanentlyand-securely fastened to the door in such: manner -thatiit will.- remain; thereon: throughout the -life ofthe 08,13: --Eeferringnow-to-Fi-gures 3---to 7-inclusive, whieh-- -illustrate "one embodiment of the invention; the reference character 2-l; indicates a resili'ent; sealing strippreferably tor-med; of rubber and in this-w-instance=-haying-generally-flat surfaces 22 and 23 adaptedto bepositioned in-em gagement with -.thelamb I face l4 [and-the marginal flange l6: respectively of -the ldoor. These flat surfaces;- are-joined by a; curved surface -24 u hich iin this; instance isprovided with: a bulge 26} adapted to be engagedbyv the offset-portion i'B'of the adjacent body-paneLwhen the door is closed .andslig htly flattened toforma seal therebetween. The particular shape of-the; sealing strip may vary considerably-of course; With-differentinstallations. I

a A r-shaped groove 2!v is. formed in the sealing fsjti-ip'z iiandZopensfinto-theface 22 thereof. As will be seen from" the" drawing the base portion orthe T-shaped slot extends generally parallel ts'uiera ezz of the sealing strip.- The T -shaped grpoveresultsin'the formation are pair of thin flexiblelips cir flan'g'es' 2'8fs15'aced 'i'rox'neach other. The rubber"'sealin'g "strip 'thus described my; be formed as desired, as for example by moulding ofbyextruding; v v """tlorrugatedwire 3i orsmuoussha e is-provide'd' for insertion inth'e T-shaped slot 27 of the sealing stripjjand is shown as comprising 'rlghtandleft hand'ed loopsf 32 connected'by straight wir'e 'portion's"re'ctangularly related to'the ldi igi tudinal axis of the. wire strip. The wire'f3li'is '4 continuously corrugated from one end to the other, simplifying the construction and reducing the cost thereof since it may be made by a continuous process and cut to any desired length.

As best seen in Figure 4, trim clips 34 are attached to the corrugated wire 3! at longitudi-,

nally spaced points. The trim clips may be of any suitabletype, a varietyvorspring wire and sheet metal trim'clips now being in common use in automobile body work. The particular clip "shown (Figure 5) is formed of a single piece of wire, bent to form a U-shaped base portion 36 and 'returnbentportions 3'! spaced from the base -portio'n and extending generally parallel thereton 'The return bent portions 31 are then angue larly' ben't to form -legs 38 having their extreme ends convergingtowards each other and ar 'rangedirl overlapping fashion. The legs 38 togetherform a generally diamond-shaped attaching portion. The trim clips are conveniently attached; to the corrugated wire :3 I whereverf'desired; simply by slipping themover: any palrsof adfiacent -corrugations of the" :wire. As -rbest shown in 'Figure' l -in this-assembledpositionthe adjacent convolutions of the contin'uous corrugated-wire 3i -areembracedbetween the base portion-3 6.: and the return bent portions 31: ot the trim -clips," the dimensions of theparts being such that theclip is resiliently held' thereon. Th corrugatedwire-with:the trim 'clips' mounted thereon is thenvassem-bled to :theresilient sealing strip 2! by spreadingwapart theflex-ibie lips" 28 and inserting the corrugated wire within the base ofthe T-sh'aped slot zl. The-clearance etweenthe adjacentends of- =thewlips' -28- of; the sealing strip prov-ides roomfor the trim 'clips' 34 which extend 'therethrough and exposexthe legs gs-formingthediamond-shaped" attaching porionst The assembled Weatherstrip iseasily attached tothe door, as shown in Figuregfi; by positioning it adjacent =the marginal flange r I 6 of the'door and-snapping the :legs 38 0f i the tllm' ?gfip .:34 through spaced holes '3'9 f'ormedin. the jar'nbiface I l-ofthe door-.= It. will beseenithat'therlipsvor flanges- 28 of the sealing-strip are firmly z heldi' between --the-corrugatewwire 3t and the jamb' -face |4 o 1'the' d0or, the diamond-shaped attaching portion 01- the trim clip being such as to tend to-maintain the sealing strip-in Itightsealing engagement with the door.

It will be apparentthatthe 'weatherstripis permanently and securely'-attached "to' the door and cannot become disengaged therefrom.-' The spacing of I thetrim clips upon the corrugated wire is selected so as to maintain continuous engagement between the sealing strip andlth'edoor thi oughout the lengthofthe--sea1ing- "strip-the corrugated continuous wire at-may ofcourse be fly bent in a} direction; normal to the -;plane of i the wire, and" likewise is :equally flexible in-jB, transverse direction in theplane :of the wire. Thus may be bent-or twisted or distorted-in anymanner necessary tocause-the Weatherstrip to conformto the configuration of the'door. In

addition. the corrugated wire is longitudinally A modification of the invention is shown in.

so that they may be readily inserted into holes in the structure to which the Weatherstrip is to be attached. As with the other illustrated form of the invention, a layerof rubber is maintained between the corrugated wire and the adjacent metal surface so as to eliminate as'much as possible all metal-to-metal contact. As with the other forms illustrated, the Weatherstrip is flexible in all di rections as well as longitudinally extensible.

As previously mentioned, various other types of trim clips may be used to advantage and these may be'either frictionally held upon the corrugated wire or maybe spot-welded thereto or otherwise held in the proper relative position prior to the assembly of theweatherstrip with the adjacent structure. After such assembly, the

sealing strip, corrugated wire, and trim clips form an integral resiliently held assembly which cannot become detached.

' Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as defined in the, appended claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. A Weatherstrip assembly comprising, in combination, an elongated rubber sealing strip having' a fiat face, said sealing strip having an elongated opening formed therein generally parallel to but spaced from its aforesaid fiat face, an elongated corrugated wire element received within said opening, said corrugations comprising rightand left-handed loops connected by straight wire portions rectangularly related to the longitudinal axis of the'element, and a plurality of fastening elements carried by said wire element at longitudinally spaced points, each of said fastening elements having a generally U-shaped' base portion arranged to he slipped over adjacent. loops and straight portions of said wire element and resiliently held thereon and each also having a vyieldable attaching portion projecting from said base portion substantially at right angles thereto and extending outwardly from the flat face of said sealing strip. I

2. A Weatherstrip unit comprising, in combination, an elongated rubber sealing strip having a fiat face with a T-shaped slot formed therein with the base of said T slot extending generally parallel to and spaced from the fiat face of said sealing strip and. with the leg of said T slot opening into the fiat face of said sealing stripfan elongated wire element of sinuous shape received within the base of said slot and'lying in a plane parallel to the flat face of said sealing strip, and a plurality of fastening elements carried by said wire element and having attaching portions projecting through the leg of said slot and extending outwardly from the flat face of said sealing strip. I

. "EDWIN D. SCOTT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record .in the file of this patent: V

' UNITED STATES PATENT Australia 1938 I 

